About this episode

John and Craig welcome David E. Kelley to discuss his process for adapting books to TV and the evolution of television writing.

John and Craig welcome writer and showrunner David E. Kelley (Big Little Lies, Ally McBeal) to look at his process for adapting books to TV, particularly with his latest series Margo's Got Money Troubles. They explore where to find your act breaks, crafting complicated tones, and when to trust the writer of the book. We also look at how TV has changed over David's storied career, how he runs a writers room, creating story engines, the difference between writing for broadcast TV and streaming, and the one thing a TV show should never be. In our bonus segment for premium members, David coaches John and Craig on how to survive a long running series. Links: David E. Kelley on IMDb Margo's Got Money Troubles on AppleTV Harvard Alcohol Project: Designated Driver The Painful Truth About Long Covid by Alan Levinovitz for WIRED Salmon Get your copy of the Scriptnotes book! Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt! Check out the Inneresting Newsletter Become a Scriptnotes Premium member , or gift a subscription Subscribe to Scriptnotes on YouTube Follow Scriptnotes on Instagram and TikTok John August on Bluesky and Instagram Outro by Nick Moore ( send us yours! ) Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt…

People in this episode

Hosts: John August, Craig Mazin

Guest: David E. Kelley

Topics covered

• adapting books to TV
• writing process
• TV showrunning
• writers room dynamics
• broadcast vs streaming
• long running series

Keywords

• David E. Kelley
• adapting books
• TV writing
• writers room
• broadcast TV
• streaming
• long running series

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Harvard Alcohol Project

Books & works: Big Little Lies, Ally McBeal, Margo's Got Money Troubles, The Painful Truth About Long Covid

More episodes of Scriptnotes Podcast

• 738 - Building Your Audience with Courtney Kemp · June 2, 2026 · 58 min
• 737 - Studio-Adjacent · May 26, 2026 · 1h 0m
• 736 - The Devil You Know · May 19, 2026 · 1h 19m
• 735 - The Flashforward Fallback · May 12, 2026 · 1h 3m

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Scriptnotes Podcast podcast page.